Best Bar in America: Mekong
Restaurant Reclaims the Top Spot in Second Annual Survey

(Boulder, Colorado) There’s more to a great beer bar than
selection. To recognize the innovative and unique
establishments where craft brewed beer is served,
CraftBeer.com—the Brewers Association (BA) website for beer
lovers—released its annual “Great American Beer Bar” list,
as voted on by its readers. The list spotlighted both the
top three overall vote-getting craft beer bars in the nation
and the top three from each of five U.S. geographical
regions.

“In this second year of surveying beer lovers for the Great American
Beer Bar competition, we’re excited to see both returning favorites
and the newly honored,” said Julia Herz, publisher of CraftBeer.com
and craft beer program director of the Brewers Association. “All of
the participating bars in this contest are reflective of the diverse
craft brewing movement. Their vibrant atmospheres parallel the
passion and unique personalities that distinguish America’s small
and independent producers.”

Established in 1995, Mekong is a second time overall champion of the
Great American Beer Bar survey. The Vietnamese restaurant has a 50+
tap selection and over 200 bottle offerings of Belgian beers,
American craft ales, sour, vintage and other special beer
selections.

“Winning the Great American Beer Bar competition did not just mean a
lot to us at Mekong, but to all of the loyal craft beer fans of
Richmond, Virginia who we are fortunate enough to have as
customers,” said An Bui, beer director of Mekong. “Richmond has one
of the best craft beer cultures in the U.S. and continually tries to
cultivate the beer religion in the area. We believe and stand by our
motto that beer is the answer and are pleased to celebrate this
honor with all of our local friends in town.”

MethodologyCraftBeer.com asked readers to nominate their favorite craft
beer bars in the country, and received over 5,000 nominations, a 117
percent increase from last year. The choices were then narrowed down
to the 10 most nominated bars in each of the five regions of the
country. Over 37,000 votes were cast in total, a 23 percent increase
from last year, resulting in the top three overall and regional
winners. Voting was conducted from August 19 until August 30.

About the Brewers Association
The Brewers Association is the not-for-profit trade association
dedicated to small and independent American brewers, their craft
beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts. The Brewers
Association (BA) represents more than 70 percent of the brewing
industry, and its members make more than 99 percent of the beer
brewed in the U.S. The BA organizes events including the World Beer
Cup®, Great American Beer Festival®, Craft Brewers Conference &
BrewExpo America®, SAVOR℠: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience
and American Craft Beer Week®. The BA publishes The New Brewer
magazine and its Brewers Publications division is the largest
publisher of contemporary and relevant brewing literature for
today's craft brewers and homebrewers.